Hassan Aftab
@hassanaftabs
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I talk about climate change, air pollution, and rocks. currently @uniofoxford ; prev: @earthscicam
Joined November 2019
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Submitted my PhD today! After 3 years of work and a pandemic, I’m done (literally)
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8+ high emission vehicles including state ambulances and police force so this kid can complete his 2 km cycle run on Environment Day.
How did you get an MBE?
Our actions matter.
Proud of my boys, who cycle everyday, plant trees, water them regularly, clean up public places, and feed insects to help grow nature.
Here are Amn, Shehroz & youngest Shazian taking part in world cycling day in Islamabad 🇵🇰.
Environment and nature is
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Finally got my doctorate in earth sciences surrounded by the love and support of my family and friends in cambridge
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Meanwhile in Pakistan we remove his name off university departments
Today we’re celebrating the naming of
#OurImperial
Abdus Salam library!
There are so many exciting events taking place on our South Ken campus today 🎉
Want to see Abdus Salam's Nobel Prize up close? Or join us and
@ProfBrianCox
this evening? Find out more 🔽
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I successfully passed my PhD viva yesterday! Now you can call me a doctor!
Thanks to my supervisor
@NanoPaleoMag
for this lovely gift, my family, and friends who came to the department for celebrations!
Special thanks to Kit and co. who made this delicious cake!
@EarthSciCam
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PhD stipends should be in line with the Consumer Price Index. Who’s going to afford anything when inflation hits 7% in the UK?
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parts of south punjab and upper sindh to experience extremely high temperatures for the next week or so, reaching upwards of 50C next week.
is there a heatwave press release for these parts of the country or does it not matter anymore?
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The children of Lahore don’t deserve this as thousands suffer from respiratory diseases losing on brain development, respiratory health, and missing out on schools
Children's wards in Pakistan's Lahore are filling up with young people struggling with respiratory issues linked to soaring air pollution:
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Despite the anomalously cooler March in Pakistan in 2023, we might still experience a heatwave that could rival last year's.
Last tear, 50% of people in Jacobabad fled the city and things did not return to normal until 4 months later 1/n
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we need to heavily disincentivise two things in pakistan: cars and housing societies
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A new report by
@icimod
The Hindu Kush and Himalyas (HKH) glaciers, snow, permafrost are undergoing largely irreversible changes driven by climate change
The HKH glaciers losing 30–50% of their volume by 2100 if global warming remains below 2°C
What does this mean for us? 1/n
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UK has emitted 700 times more carbon historically than Guyana (last 150 years)
More importantly their forests have sequestered 810,000 billion t of carbon in the last 150 years, considering they sequester 5.4 Gt/year.
This absurd journalism should be called out
“Let me stop you right there…”
Caribbean nation Guyana is booming after discovering oil. BBC’s Stephen Sackur puts it to President
@presidentaligy
; lobbyists say oil is bad for the climate.
Dude wasn’t having it. Mans was ready!
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Has someone studied the mental health effects of smog in Pakistani cities? Not being able to go out, lack of sunlight etc.
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This is stupid. There is enough evidence on what
1) causes air pollution
2) measures can reduce its ambient concentration
Sprinkler emulating 'rain' for the road dust to settle is NOT going to help
Instead have tougher emissions targets on
1) cars
2) solid fuel
3)industry
Smog & Dust Free Lahore Mission”
Baldia Uzma Lahore sprinkles water on important and busy roads of the city on a daily basis.
Route: Kalma Chowk to Chungi Amer Sidhu
#MCL
#Administratorlhr
@DCLahore
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I write about much forgotten phenomenon of summer smog in Pakistani urban cities as the winter smog bandwagon takes over.
Important thing to note would be the global warming, rising average temperatures, and subsequent heatwaves that will make summer smog episodes more frequent.
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sometimes you just want to stare at library architecture and not work
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PAID Research Opportunity!
I am hiring two RA's as part of a small research fund to use asset-level data for air pollution related emissions tracking in the airsheds across the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Ideally the applicant will be a student who knows ML/GIS applications and is 1/n
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Lahore duniya ka pehla shehr hoga jahan sarkien wiper se saaf kartay
Taking another step to combat smog in Lahore!
A cleanliness drive has started today, deploying four teams with 100 members each to clear the roads from dust. Focused on minimal disruption, this initiative aims to improve air quality without impacting traffic flow. Let's breathe
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The climate and topography of the Indus-Ganga Plain in Pakistan and India; the Po valley in Italy are two identical examples in
1) large industries, power plants
2) intensive agriculture
3) high population density
This presents a problem of extremely unhealthy levels of 1/n
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My team at APAD and I are thrilled to announce the launch of the first-ever open-source brick kiln database in Pakistan, a crucial initiative aimed at enhancing our understanding and mitigation of air pollution in the country, and region of South Asia.
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SO EXCITED! New paper alert!
Interested in knowing what you breathe in an urban setting? Check out my first paper in
@theAGU
with
@NanoPaleoMag
, Barbara Maher, Giulio Lampronti and Vassil Karloukovski. We investigate ways to characterise PM in air 1/n
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RUDA being pushed as an eco-friendly city was the biggest scam that could happen to people of Lahore
someone tell him that planting trees the way he did has killed biodiversity
shukar hai it was declared illegal by LHC
revive ravi and leave it alone
I too am interested to know how much they got paid.
Is it the same as what Imran Khan was paid when he promoted RUDA as the sitting PM or less than that.
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The 4th-8th June heatwave forecast for Pakistan looks very similar to April heatwave in ban and india
according to
@WWAttribution
"the likelihood of such an event to occur of at least a factor of 30 due to climate change"
That's 30 times more likelier because of climate change
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Today's quota of bad takes:
Just a boomer who's bitter that they're not on the driving seat. This take completely ignores the nuances of COPs. Pakistan successfully leading loss and damage negotiations.
Let's talk about climate action in your tenure:
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83% of Lahore’s air pollution caused by transport based on the sectoral inventory by Urban Unit paint an incomplete picture
The transport contribution to the air quality needs to be revisited, as estimates from sectoral inventory are based on significant assumptions
Here:
New paper alert!
My co author and I report on transport’s contribution to Pakistan’s urban air pollution.
It’s open access we have collated current knowledge, identified gaps, and have made recommendations on improving data collection
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My piece on the recent floods in Pakistan and what made them more disastrous—institution failures. A summary thread: 🧵 1/n
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In a water scarce country, they’re using essential water for firefighting to clean the roads for what:
reducing air pollution or
the aesthetic?
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Do you know long term exposure to air pollution does not only affect your lungs or hearts but it reduces your cognitive ability and increases risk of dementia?
Fine particulate matter can damage blood vessels, reducing blood supply to the brain.
Read the UK govt report below:
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Today I learnt from one of the dept seminars that most of the trees planted in WEF's trillion tree plan are nitrogen-fixing trees
Normally, trees would sequester carbon dioxide but N-fixing trees release NO2 (which is a potent GHG)
This means, we have been overestimating
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Asking my parents to buy me chart paper for my next day art class at 9 pm on a winter evening
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Hosted at the Nobel prize museum, the round table discussion ‘Minds of the future’ is now live! It was an honour to represent
@Cambridge_Uni
and Pakistan in discussing solutions to future issues with colleagues and Nobel laureate David MacMillan!
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Google photos reminding me how eerie Cambridge looked during the first lockdown
Circa March 2020
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Pakistan’s climate change ministry efforts have only revolved around picking trash and planting trees with their 20 member media team.
Real work on our problems might help?
Kicking off the
#JashnayAzaadi
celebrations by cleaning up the Margallah trails and recruiting young volunteers to look after beautiful natural capital. Islamabad is home to one of the most stunning national park area, 17,000 hectares, so let’s keep it preserved and trash-free
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That’s 1/7th of our GDP for context
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A recent paper on Karachi's air pollution reveals the impact of primary and secondary aerosols (NOx,SO2, O3, HNO3) on the population's health. Sources include "fossil fuel combustion, open burning of refuse, vehicular traffic–related emissions , and industrial activities" 1/n
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How about all developed countries pay up for climate mitigation and adaptation in Pakistan?
The CO2 emissions they’ve released historically+ the CO2 emissions they avoid by moving carbon intensive industries to developing countries. Who’s accountable for that?
#climatechange
Pakistan must step up climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts to avoid loss and damage to the greatest possible extent, with the aim of preventing other cities in Pakistan developing living conditions as those in Jacobabad.
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NEW Paper Alert!
With collaborators
@nanopaleomag
@EarthSciCam
, we report that roadside green infrastructure (GI) improves local air quality by capturing and reducing airborne particulate matter (PM) at schools near roadside environments.
Key Takeaways from the paper🧵
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I discuss in
@etribune
about the 2022 heatwave in Pakistan and how extreme events like these would become more
1) frequent
2) worse
#climatecrisis
#climatechange
#heatwave2022
#heatwave
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Had fun talking at Imperial College Geology Society Symposium on the nexus between geoscience and air pollution! First invited talk!
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NEW Paper Alert!
My co authors and I talk about the abundance of ultra-fine iron oxide rich particles in the London Underground. Thanks to all collaborators and coauthors especially
@NanoPaleoMag
, Prof Emilie Ringe, and Dr Po-yen Tung
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Please stop saying that it was the same earthquake predicted a month ago. You can’t predict earthquakes
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“A taxi driver in Islamabad had to choose b/w paying for treatment for his son or to send his four children to school…he decided to pull his children out of school to afford medicine”
No one should be forced to make these choices to pay for healthcare
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I never understand why on pollution-stricken days, one-week holidays for schools are announced while there is no ban on cars?
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The current haze episode has now lasted for 10 days with pollution levels 100 x the
@WHO
annual limit for PM2.5
Lahore rarely has acceptable air quality days. The city is plagued with toxic air and clean air acts are only written for clout
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extreme temperatures in north-east and south of pakistan
it is important to note that this heatwave renders humidity as important for health impacts than preceding heatwaves
remember climate change has increased the probability and frequency of these heatwaves in the region
🚨Heatwave starts in
#Punjab
&
#KP
, and will continue till Sunday. Temperatures can touch up to 49 °C in DG Khan, Layyah, DI Khan,
#Multan
, and up to 47 °C in
#Lahore
and
#Faisalabad
.
#Islamabad
to see its first 40+ °C of this summer.
Stay hydrated!
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We have deployed first indoor air quality monitor in a classroom of
@NagarSnpet
in Lahore, Pakistan.
We are focusing on air quality of classrooms in Pakistan as children are the most vulnerable to air pollution and spend 80% of their time in school indoors
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Me opening the fridge every other second. Can we now have air conditioning in buildings?
#UKheatwave
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Visual representation of Bad (AQI 320) vs Better air day (AQI 119) in Lahore*
Goes on to show that even when it’s blue skies, the air is still 10 times worse than the WHO limit
*nearest sensor is within 500m
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It was amazing to have the opportunity to present my research at CADA at the Natural History Museum!
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New paper alert!
My co author and I report on transport’s contribution to Pakistan’s urban air pollution.
It’s open access we have collated current knowledge, identified gaps, and have made recommendations on improving data collection
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when the world averages 2C higher in global temperature, a 3 m rise in sea level and karachi won't have phase 8 and all that emaar's coastline apartments
maybe stop building on areas vulnerable to rising sea levels?
It’s not too late to save
#Karachi
.
The science is certain. No matter what, the sea level will rise by 1 metre.
But if we keep our carbon pollution the same, the sea level will rise by 3 metres.
Fast forward to the future, at 10 metres rise, Karachi will be no more.
The State
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A thread
On why 'billion-tree tsunami' by previous Pakistan government (part of Trillion-trees at WEF 20) should not be the forefront of our climate change policy
original article by
@hausfath
in the link pins down the reason.
I'll talk re a few: 1/n
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Smog season: Lahore and most of North Pakistan engulfed in haze as temperatures drop
2nd Oct vs 28th Oct. AQI going from unhealthy to hazardous
The govt has failed set stringent air quality targets or to take urgent action against toxic air all year around
It only gets worse
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Who's going to tell him it is still 26.8x above the WHO limit
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Blue roads don’t reduce air pollution at all
Because they’re painted in a lighter colour, they are better at reflecting heat than absorbing (and subsequently radiating) heat
The Punjab Central Business District Development Authority has introduced the “Blue Road” concept in the provincial capital of Lahore to control air pollution.
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We combined results from chemical, microscopy and magnetic measurements to discriminate different sources of particulates in Lahore, Pakistan
Key findings:
1. Anthropogenic pollution in Lahore is dominated by vehicular-related sources: exhaust emissions, brake and tyre wear 2/n
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Took this photograph to showcase my research on air pollution
@EarthSciCam
Glad that it’s been exhibited for
@Cambridge_Fest
and part of
@CamUniEngage
Creative encounter’s project! The exhibition continues until 9th April at Exam rooms, Student services centre!
#CamFest
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This is what drought looks like
August 2022 vs August 2020
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Great experience to partake in a round table discussion with Nobel laureate Prof Sir David Macmillian (Chemistry 2021) at the Nobel Prize Museum
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Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are three most polluted countries.
We are geolocating the sources of pollution near your city so policymakers can make informed decisions.
Interested? Head over to to visualise major air pollutants from nearest coal plant
29 of the 30 most polluted cities are in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh and there is need for regional cooperation
We need access to open data to tackle some of the important decisions such as why do we have coal power plants in air sheds?
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Urdu Society at Cambridge is hosting Aqib Sabir on 6th May at 4 PM BST. Aqib is a poet, reearcher, and translator currently pursuing a PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Aqib's work rose to recognition with the digital turn in Urdu Poetry.
The event is open to everyone!
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I don't understand why people like
@juliahb1
who have no idea about climate science are preaching and blatantly rejecting that extreme weather events are not increasing and instead suggests that the rich countries are better at dealing with crisis like these because they burnt
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If you're done with watching election results, follow this project on identifying non-GHG air pollution sources in South Asia.
The database will be open source!
The quality of the air you breathe relies heavily on where you live in the world
With help of remote sensing— High Resolution Satellite Data & AI, we aim at identifying major pollution sources and estimate non-greenhouse gas emissions
The project focuses initially on South Asia
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@free_radical420
Just saw that, thanks for pointing out. Regardless, these cycling events escorted by police and ambulances need to stop. She should know better and not partake in events which serve no purpose to the environment
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This is what’s wrong with pledges made at COPs which are scrapped easily over ideological differences.
The £11.6 billion pledge was for UK’s contribution to vulnerable countries and communities to climate change between 2021-26
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Had the worst interaction in my college today where a guy got angry because he hadn’t turned up on time and I had put his clothes on top of the machine. 100% racially motivated and I usually don’t get intimidated but he asked my full name and what I do because he was a post doc
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just came across this brick kiln study in mardan, nw pakistan
conc. values over 24hr period for PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 reaching upwards of 2000-3000 ug/m3 in nearby areas of the brick kilns
for context that is 150 times beyond the WHO limit. isn't this a public health emergency?
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Traffic Mobility data shows that mobility in Pakistani urban centres are highly vehicle-dependent
Any policy to restrict private vehicle movement does not reduce traffic movement.
Me and
@hassanaftabs
wrote a piece using data to look a the Punjabs "smart lockdown" to combat smog. The results dont look promising, and highlight the need for more thoughtful policies
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Unbearable heat will not only bring our labour's productivity down (when most of our GDP is dependent on outdoor labour), but threatens our food security (affecting wheat harvest and livestock health).
2/n
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There’s lots of sensationalised news regarding the recent paper on the Underground air pollution
I write for
@ConversationUK
in layman’s terms what the paper say and doesn’t say
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Can’t wait for Punjab govt to take credit for their 4-day holiday policy tomorrow for reduction in pollution levels
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this new paper discusses the risk glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs)— like the flood caused by Shishper glacier Northern Pakistan in 2022.
Pakistan has the highest GLOF hazard+most vulnerable+2.1 mil people are exposed to, making it one of the most dangerous to such threats
Globally, 15 million people are exposed to the potential threats of glacial lake outburst floods – with more than half of these living in India, Pakistan, Peru and China.
@cjt_29
@Dr_TRob
@Rock_Avalanches
@MattWestoby
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Partial lockdown in 10 districts of Punjab, schools closed, burdening health bill
"Over the past 24 hours, a staggering 3,242 individuals sought medical attention in government hospitals"
Air pollution needs to be addressed fully and not with ad hoc sol
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This is what climate crisis looks like; heatwaves followed by heavy rains and floods.
South Asia should be given funds from the west for all their historic emissions that has led us to this
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We need to entirely change how we live in summers.
Ideally 6 am- 1 pm office hours and early start to summer holidays.
This happens every year, you can't close schools for a week, expect students to come give exams in June.
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the heatwaves in pakistan could be worsened by el niño
monsoon onset is already delayed in india and bangladesh and jun-sept are expected to be drier than usual
the present el niño conditions are expected to gradually strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2023-24 1/n
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Apart from scientific data: Lahore is one of the most polluted city in the world and there needs to be a lot done to mitigate exposure to harmful particulates and aerosols. We need to understand exposure to pollution is local to a particular microenvironment and 6/n
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It is not long before our normal agricultural day becomes impossible or we'd need some structural changes on how we farm? No country in south asia (def not Pakistan) is capable to deal with extreme heat of such kind. 3/n
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@theLahorewala
there is no such thing as 'climate-ready' in Pakistan. heatwaves like these will affect all people equally: the rich, poor workforce, women, children.
Best way would be to have council-level climate resilience groups
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I just finished reading the new
@WorldBankSAsia
report on tackling air pollution in South Asia. Here’s a thread summarising it for those who are interested:
1/n
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